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Ice Age (Magic: The Gathering)

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Ice Age
common expansion symbol
Snowflake
ReleasedJune 1995
Size383 cards (121 commons, 121 uncommons, 121 rares, 20 basic lands)
KeywordsCumulative Upkeep
MechanicsAllied color alliances, cantrips, Snow lands
DesignersSkaff Elias, Jim Lin, Dave Petty and Chris Page[1]
Development codeIce Age
Expansion codeICE
First set in the Ice Age block
Ice Age Alliances Coldsnap
← 4th Edition Chronicles →

Ice Age is the first set in the Ice Age block. The Ice Age set is the eleventh set and the sixth expansion set, released in June 1995. Set in the years from 450 to 2934 AR, the set describes a world set in perpetual winter due to the events in Antiquities. Ice Age was followed up June 1996 with Alliances, the fourteenth Magic: The Gathering set and eighth expansion set and on July 21, 2006 with Coldsnap. The time period between Alliances and Coldsnap was the longest period of time between the beginning and the completion of a full block in Magic. Originally, the set Homelands, released in October 1995, was the second set in the Ice Age block (with Alliances being the third set), but following the release of Coldsnap, Homelands was removed from the block in favor of Coldsnap.

Storyline

The Brothers' War, referenced in the set Antiquities and the Urza block, has thrown Dominaria into a drastic climate change. The temperature has dropped sharply and a new Ice Age has begun. Most of society has been lost; all that remains are the soldier nation of Kjeldor, the barbarians of Balduvia, and the elvish society of Fyndhorn. These people must battle against the necromancer Lim-Dûl who has begun to conduct twisted experiments. Meanwhile the wizard Zur the Enchanter trains new wizards to survive in the harsh environment.[2]

Set history

Ice Age was the first "stand-alone" expansion; that is, it was the first set that could be played independently of other Magic: The Gathering products. It was the first expansion to reprint all five basic lands. Ice Age is also the first set that was printed for a certain period. Previous sets had a previously specified print run and were then sold while supplies lasted.[2]

As Ice Age was the first "stand-alone" expansion set, the designers believed that some "staple" cards from the basic set and expansions should be in the set. Thus, the set was also the first expansion set (aside from the Arabian Nights Mountain misprint) to reprint cards. The set included about 8% reprints of old cards. Also, another 8% of the cards were functional reprints of already-printed cards; that is, aside from the name (and possibly the creature type), these cards were identical to cards in other sets.

Ice Age was the first Magic expansion that was released in French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Mechanics

Several mechanics were introduced in the Ice Age block. The most notable of these was permanents of the "Snow" supertype. Ice Age introduced basic snow-covered lands, and cards that had effects based on Snow permanents.[2] Other mechanics introduced included cumulative upkeep and cantrips. Ice Age was also the first set to print single-colored legends.

Cards

Ice Age consists of 383 cards. Of these 121 each are common, uncommon, and rare. The remaining 20 cards are basic lands distributed solely in Starter Packs. There were 56 cards of each color, 25 multicolor cards, 45 artifacts, and 33 lands in Ice Age.[3]

Notable cards

  • Brainstorm - Because of its interaction with 'fetchlands' like Polluted Delta, this is played in virtually every blue deck in the formats where it's legal.
  • Demonic Consultation - Similar to Demonic Tutor, this allows you to 'search' for any card in your deck. The drawback of removing cards from the game proved to be minor, making this arguably even more powerful. It is either restricted or banned in the formats in which it would be legal.
  • Jester's Cap
  • Necropotence
  • Zuran Orb

References

  1. ^ Rosewater, Mark (9 February 2009). "Whatever Happened to Barry's Land?". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Ice Age". Magic: The Gathering Official Encyclopedia. Thunder's Mouth Press. 1996. pp. 70–71. ISBN 1-56025-140-9.
  3. ^ "Ice Age Card List". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
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